J'accuse: 'Southend United smash a lot of high balls into your box'

21 February 2011 11:27

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A new week but old accusations from Torquay United manager Paul Buckle against the route one tactics fankly used by both teams in Saturday's 1-1 draw with the Shrimpers. Buckle: 'The ball was in the air far too much for my liking'Well, at least Gulls boss Paul Buckle has accepted the pudding of a Plainmoor pitch was the same for both sides though still insisting the Shrimpers have little past a plan A of route one tactics.I'm sure the insult to the footballing skills of Craig Easton, Antony Grant, Lee Sawyer and man-of-the-match, again, the ever cool Kane Ferdinand, and the majority of the side it will not affect them too much.Four points from two games Paul.If you have a winger on form like Ryan Hall and a big bloke like Barry Corr scoring goals in the middle, 14 of them so far, and a pitch that after heavy overnight rain in the area was not going to allow a passing fiesta, crossing the ball accuratly and quickly seems a logical thing to do. Anyway, Buckle told www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk: "We couldn't get our passing game going in the conditions, so we had to show a different side to our game. We had to try and win our individual battles, and then get some quality in the attacking third. Southend smash a lot of high balls into your box, and we had to defend a lot of those, which we expected."TIN.adverts.adWriteDC('article-detail-impact-tile-top', '452x118', '', null, null);OK Paul, you win, oh no you didn't your drew, but he thinks his Gulls should have grabbed the three points.Buckle continued: "We have shown today that we can play a different way when we have to. We had to be strong in defence, which we were, and it was so difficult to get the ball on the floor and pass it. The ball was in the air far too much for my liking. But I still thought we deserved to win the game on shots and the chances we created."Once again Paul the facts seem to say the opposite: Possession: Torquay 44% Southend 56%Attempts on target: Torquay 7 Southend 7.Attempts off target: Torquay 5 Southend 4.Corners: Torquay 5 Southend 4.Fouls: Torquay 14 Southend 5.They certainly had to fight all right!(Match stats from the BBC)